Spinners Honor Local Heroes

Sometimes, what happens off the diamond is more important than what happens on it

Your Lowell Spinners hosted the Hudson Valley Renegades—single A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays—for a three-game home stand that saw the calendar switch from August to September, but the series will be remembered for the poignant promotion that occurred during game one.

August 30th was Military Hero Card Set Giveaway night sponsored by Army ROTC and the Lowell Sun, and the first 1,000 fans at LeLacheur Park received a deck of 33 cards each honoring local servicemen and women. In addition to honoring these heroes through the card set, there was an extended suspension of play during the second inning so that the military men and women, along with their families, could come onto the field to be saluted by the players, the fans in attendance, and a tribute slideshow displayed on the video board. It was truly a highlight of the season.

In addition to saluting our local heroes, August 31st was Hunger Games night with fans getting divided into 13 districts and competing for the right to have hotdogs slingshot into their district, and September 1st was Uncut Card Sheet Poster Giveaway night sponsored by Sal’s Pizza, Hood, Courier, Sugarbug Dental, Scharn Industries, and Northern Business Machines.

Of course, baseball was also played, but it was baseball the Spinners’ pitching staff and fielders would rather soon forget. The Lowell bats did just fine scoring 17 runs in the series, but the team allowed 27 runs aided by nine errors over the three games. As a result, they dropped the first two games (5-10, 6-12), but they did manage to salvage a win in the final game of the series, surviving a late Hudson Valley rally to hold on 6-5.

It was nice to end the home stand with a win, but the two losses cast the Spinners playoff aspirations further in doubt.

The Spinners return home Labor Day weekend and host division rival Vermont for the last three games of the NYPL season.